Tibet closed to foreigners again but tourism booms

Katie Hunt, CNN • Updated 26th February 2016

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(CNN) — China has closed Tibet to overseas travelers from Thursday until the end of March, three travel agents told CNN, but with or without foreigners, tourism to the isolated mountain region is booming.

Who benefits?

Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University, says China has poured in huge sums of money to make the high-altitude region accessible for mass tourism.

"Many of the tourists travel in highly organized tour groups, which are several hundred strong and have no contact with any local person," he says.

"But others, usually from wealthier backgrounds, are interested in Tibetan Buddhism, and see it as filling a spiritual vacuum in their lives."

But he adds that Tibetans tend to benefit more from foreign tourists "since they want to be guided by Tibetans, want their money to go to Tibetans, and tend to prefer low-impact, sustainable forms of tourism."

"Chinese businesses appear to benefit most from mass tourism, which mainly involves Chinese tourists," he says.